Mockingbird: An Unexpected Mourner
by ExtravagantRain
Summary: Ana is greeted at her daughter's grave site by someone she isn't quite expecting. Less of a continuation, more of an addendum. Rated T for sensitive material.


The service was quite wonderful, when Ana thinks about it.

All of her friends—as well as Fareeha's—were in attendance. They all offered her their support and condolences, and they each had at least a little bit to say about her daughter. Each memory they shared brought a smile to Ana's face, which she knew she needed even if it _was_ a sad smile.

Even Fareeha's father showed up, and he may have been even more distraught over her loss than Ana was. He gave quite an emotional eulogy, one which brought every single person in the room to tears.

Then, at the end of it all, Fareeha's coffin was delivered to the vehicle and driven to its final resting place in the Heroes' Cemetery, where she was given one last salute, a marvelous twenty-one-gun salute that was as music to everyone there. After that, everyone slowly made their way out of the cemetery, with the exception of Ana.

She finds the newfound silence more deafening than the music of booming cannons and guns.

Now, she is all alone, save for her thoughts and the innumerable tombstones that surround her. She tries to think of some final things to say, but the words refuse to leave the tip of her tongue, instead chaining themselves to it and insisting on dying there.

Ana is ashamed of herself, not being able to say anything about the most important person in her life after she had just lost her. A sickening gnawing hits her gut for the umpteenth time that day, only much worse this time. She silently curses at herself, demanding herself to force the words free in a futile effort to draw things to a close so she can finally go home and try to relax in some manner.

When her back is turned, someone else arrives on the scene, their feet drawing zero sound whatsoever, as though they were a ghost.

Ana turns back around to see that she is no longer alone, and the unannounced guest makes her gasp in both fear and surprise.

"Gabriel," she says in a hushed tone.

His head is lowered, gaze fixed upon the headstone with no intent on turning to acknowledge her.

"You have some nerve coming here," she decides to say after he doesn't reply at all, her tone stern and unapproving.

After a moment of silence, seemingly contemplating what to say, Reaper says to her, "Never thought it'd be her."

"What do you mean?" Ana asks, surprised. "She was a member of Overwatch; shouldn't that have landed her on your list?"

Reaper, shaking his head, says, "I never had anything against the kid. Even after what happened to me, the thought never crossed my mind."

"I find that hard to believe, Gabriel."

He shrugs. It's not the same carefree shrug from the old days, but instead one that carries an immense weight, a solemn gesture that seems out of place even with his new macabre persona.

"So," Ana says, "there's got to be a reason why you came. You certainly didn't come to catch up with an old friend.

"You know full well that we're not friends," Reaper says, finally turning his head to look at Ana.

"We were, once upon a time."

"Those days are over," Reaper says, returning his gaze to the headstone. "All the same, I'm here to apologize."

Ana can't believe her ears.

First she's shocked, then she's infuriated and insulted by his words, and her expression darkens into a disapproving frown.

Nearly shouting, Ana exclaims, "You're here to _apologize?!_ Gabriel, don't mock me!"

"You can think what you want," Reaper says, his voice not raising a single bit. "I still want to apologize. Her death was a mistake."

"A _mistake,_ Gabriel?! You say it as if it carries no weight for _anyone!_ I _lost_ my _daughter!_ "

"You're not the only one to ever lose anyone."

Suddenly, the weight of Reaper's words hits her like a ton of bricks, and she has to admit that he's right. However, she still believes she has a right to be upset with him, all things considering.

With an exasperated sigh, Ana says, "I accept your apology, but I don't forgive you."

"Wasn't asking you to," Reaper says, stooping down and running his gloved hand across the headstone.

"N-No, I suppose you weren't. I guess I just assumed."

"You've always had a tendency to do that."

Several memories come back to her, times when her assumptions made her look a bit foolish.

Ana can't help but smile a little.

She is snapped out of her reverie by the sound of Reaper digging in his cloak pocket for something, which prompts her to look down at him with interest. She observes how gentle his actions are in this moment, how full of thought he seems to be for someone who now only has the deaths of his former comrades on his mind. It's so odd, given that all their previous encounters since the fall of Overwatch have been combative.

When he pulls out a plain canvas sack full of something, she asks the obvious question of, "What's that?"

Again, without looking at her, Reaper says, "Her favorite. I used to give these to her all the time in secret."

"Gabriel, is that...candy?"

His only response is to set the sack at the base of Fareeha's headstone, then stand up and look at Ana.

"Gabriel...?"

"There will come a day when I finally kill you and the rest of those fools," he says after a few seconds, "but today's not that day."

"How merciful of you," Ana says, her tone dry. She doesn't approve of his words, and especially his vendetta, but she knows, somehow, that it's not actually _him_ saying this.

Not entirely, anyways.

She closes her eye and sighs, then starts to say, "Thank you, Ga—"

But she stops in the middle of her sentence when she opens her eye again to see that Reaper is no longer there.

Once again, it's only her, and the silence, and the sea of graves.

Ana looks down at the canvas sack and picks it up after pondering it for a few seconds, opening it to see that it does, indeed, contain candy, specifically malt balls.

Ana can't help the somber smile that creeps its way onto her face.

She'd always wondered where the sudden bursts of energy her daughter would get came from (not to mention the horrible cavities), and now she holds the answer to this in her hand, a gift from an unexpected visitor.

An unexpected mourner.

At long last, Ana is able to say her final words to her daughter (for now, anyways), which are, "I'm so proud of you, habibti. I always have been, and I always will be. Thank you for sharing your life with me. I love you."

With this, Ana finally makes her way out of the Heroes' Cemetery, popping a handful of her daughter's favorite candy into her mouth.

From nearby, Reaper watches, Widowmaker by his side.

"You should have killed her while you had the chance," Widowmaker says.

"No," Reaper says. "Not today."

"And why not? You had the perfect opportunity."

Reaper looks at her, then back at Ana.

"Because she's gone through enough for the time being."

Widowmaker scoffs and turns her head away in disgust, saying, "You're going soft."

Reaper shakes his head.

"I just remember what it's like to care about someone."

Widowmaker looks at him again, and, for a split second, almost feels offended before her conditioning kicks in and wipes it away.

She says, "That's enough. We're leaving."

"Fine by me," Reaper says.

Then, they, too, leave the cemetery grounds.


End file.
